The Southern Methodist University Mustang Band, known as the "Best Dressed Band in the Land" because of its 32 unique uniforms,[1] is the marching band of Southern Methodist University. Long known as “the Hub of SMU spirit,” the 80 member band represents the University at football and basketball games, produces the Pigskin Revue during Homecoming, and performs at special University- and community-related events.[2] Founded in 1917,[3] the Mustang Band is currently under the direction of Don Hopkins and assistant director and music arranger Tommy Tucker.[4]

The SMU Mustang Band introduced jazz into its performances in the late 1920s and continues this tradition. The band also incorporates other popular music styles, all arranged with the hallmark swing style of the Mustang Band.[1] The SMU Mustang Band features a high-stepping, quick marching style[5] and loud, brassy musical arrangements.[6] The instrumentation of the band is all brass, saxophones, piccolo, and marching percussion.[1]

The SMU band became known as the Mustang Band in the 1950s. When Dr. Irving Dreibrodt became director in 1958, the band became independent from the SMU School of Music.[3] Dr. Dreibrodt's 25-year tenure as director led to the creation of many of the band's traditions and songs that continue today.

He quickly introduced the concept of changing uniforms several times during a football game, and beginning in the fall of 1959 a writer for The Campus newspaper coined the name “The Best-Dressed Band in the Land.”[7][8]

In 1961 the band for the first time fielded 96 members along with its featured twirler, leading to another popular nickname of “96 Guys and a Doll.”[3]

Don Hopkins is Director of the SMU Mustang Band. He was a member of the Mustang Band in 1977-82, completing his Bachelor of Music at SMU. Don has always been a head band director, teaching at various Texas high schools before returning to SMU in 2005 as the band's 14th director.[4]

Tommy Tucker is the Assistant Director of the SMU Mustang Band and the primary music arranger. He obtained his degree from SMU in 1984 and previously served as the Mustang Band Assistant Director from 1984-1988. He has also been the musical producer/arranger for Pigskin Revue since 1981 and has been arranging music for various bands since 1971.[4]

The SMU Mustang Band's music is based primarily in the Dixieland and Big Band eras of the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s. Most commonly referred to as ‘Mustang Jazz,’ it is the presentation of American jazz and popular music employing the following elements:

Full blocked, well-reinforced, Big Band style arrangements. Instead of just writing three note chords (root, third, and fifth), nearly every chord is fattened-up with either the 6th or the 7th added, depending on how the chord is used.

Scores utilize original/elaborate jazz rhythmic figures, which is more challenging than the simplified patterns that marching bands often use to ensure a clean sound on the football field.

The SMU Mustang Band earned its reputation as "The Best-Dressed Band in the Land" because of its multiple uniforms with a style that mimics a swing band more than a typical marching band. It has 32 different uniforms made up of varying combinations of pants, shirts, coats, and ties. Band members wear one uniform for the pregame performance and change to another just before halftime at all SMU football games where the band plays. The uniform style reinforces the music style of a jazz band.[6]

In the 1951 Cotton Bowl Classic between the University of Texas and the University of Tennessee, Irving Dreibrodt was directing the high school band portion of the halftime show. After seeing the Tennessee band change into tuxedos for halftime to perform the Tennessee Waltz, Dr. Dreibrodt decided that if he ever had a college band, he wanted to make it the best-dressed band in the land by using different uniforms. He explained why in a 2005 interview: "‘Cause in my opinion, if you please the eye, it’s a little easier to please the ear. So we went after pleasing the eye first."[10]

The Diamond M is the signature formation of the SMU Mustang Band.[12] The band had been forming a large block "M" until Dr. Dreibrodt arrived in 1958. He was impressed by the unique tradition of Ohio State'sScript Ohio and wanted to create a trademark formation for the SMU band. With only 40 band members his first year, the band could not spell out "SMU" so he created a single-line "M" formation with the sides bent out in a double diamond shape to add some style. The Diamond M remains the trademark symbol of the SMU Mustang Band.[10]

The marching band forms the Diamond M formation to the song Pony Battle Cry.[3] The band typically comes off the field from this formation. The letter is sometimes flipped by inverting the two short lines in the center.[5]

The tradition of playing a concert from the stands at the end of a football game dates back to at least 1960 when the band went to Ohio State and played a forty-five-minute jazz concert after the game.[3] The Mustang Band always concludes with the SMU Alma Mater, Varsity.[13]

Mustang Band members with their beanies, 4th quarter of Homecoming 2004

The SMU Mustang Band carries many of the traditions of SMU, including the almost-forgotten first-year beanie. At one time, all entering first-year students at SMU wore green beanies. The university abandoned the beanie tradition sometime in the late 1950s, leaving football players and band members as the only people wearing them on campus.[14]

Today "the privilege of the beanie" is afforded only to members of the Mustang Band. As a sign of their commitment to school spirit, the band members wear their beanies during rehearsals, the fourth quarter of SMU football games, and the last five minutes of every SMU basketball game.[14]

In its early years, the all-male band would drift off to visit with the co-eds during the game. Cy Barcus, Mustang Band director from 1924–32, came up with the idea of having the remaining trumpets make a buzzing sound to alert the wayward band members to get back to their seats.[3] That buzz—a flutter tongue on a concert F—was incorporated into the start of Peruna, the official SMU fight song.[15]

Pigskin Revue is a musical performance which features the SMU Mustang Band playing several songs along with singing, dancing, comedy, and other talented acts from SMU faculty, staff, and students. Started in 1933, the Pigskin Revue was created as an old Vaudeville show where people showcased their talents. The Revue quickly grew to be an important part of SMU Homecoming celebrations.[5][16]

SMU's fight song and pony mascot are named Peruna after a potent “medicine” marketed since the early 1890s that had a high alcohol content.[17][18] The fight song is to the melody of “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” and the SMU Mustang Band has arranged multiple versions, including traditional, Dixieland, rock & roll, pop, and country-western Peruna.[6][19][20]

At the end of every halftime performance the band forms its unique Diamond M formation to the tune of Pony Battle Cry, a school fight song introduced in 1964.[21] The band ends the performance with the loud fanfare known as the Waring Ending[9] and then quickly marches off-field to Peruna.

Band members come from the business, engineering, fine arts, and liberal arts colleges within SMU, as well as several colleges in the Dallas area that do not have a marching band.[22] They usually join during their first year at SMU, but many join their Sophomore, Junior, or even Senior years. Typically, band members have played an instrument in high school or were in band in high school, but not always. Anyone is welcome to audition for the band. Scholarships are awarded based on ability.[5]

The SMU Mustang Band was an all-male ensemble for much of its first 60 years. Historically, the only women in the band were featured twirlers. When band director Frank Malone left in 1943 to form a US Army Air Corps band, he took 16 key band members with him.[3] There weren't enough males left, so the band admitted women. By 1956 someone complained that women in the band were wearing trousers due to the uniform, and because SMU had a dress code prohibiting women from wearing slacks or trousers, the University decided to return the band to an all-male organization. Under pressure to provide equal opportunities for women, the Mustang Band readmitted women to the band permanently in 1977.[11]

SMU Mustang Band alumni, parents, and supporters comprise the Diamond M Club, the official fund-raising organization recognized by Southern Methodist University. The Club provides financial support for Mustang Band uniforms, instrumentation, game day meals, performances, and travel costs as needed. The primary purpose of the Club, however, is to raise money for student scholarships. Funds are added to a special endowment account at the end of each fiscal year. The Club is financed exclusively by member dues and donations.

The organization began in 1970 as the Mustang Band Alumni Association, but reorganized itself in 1985 under the new Diamond M Club name. The Club is operated through the SMU Office of Development and managed by a board of directors elected by the membership. Board members serve two-year terms.[23][24]

Alumni Band joins the Mustang Band in the trademark Diamond M at halftime during Homecoming, November 2003

The Alumni Band is an SMU Mustang Band support organization, assembled from former band members. Before SMU home football games, the band plays regular Mustang Band tunes up and down the Boulevard that runs through the center of campus where crowds gather for pre-game tailgate parties.[15][25] It also marches on the field at Homecomingfootball games,[26] plays at SMU basketball games during the winter break,[27] and performs at public and private events when contributions are made to the Mustang Band.[28]

The mission of the SMU Mustang Alumni Band is to actively and visibly support the SMU Mustang Band, preserve its musical history and traditions, and provide performance opportunities for all Mustang Band alumni.[29]

1.
Southern Methodist University
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Southern Methodist University is a private research university in Dallas, University Park, and Highland Park, Texas. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates satellite campuses in Plano, Texas, SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. Of the universitys 11,643 students,6,411 are undergraduates, the main campus of the university is divided into seven schools, including the Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, the Bobby B. The university was chartered on April 17,1911, by the five Annual Conferences in Texas of the Methodist Episcopal Church, classes were originally planned to start in 1913 but were postponed until 1915. SMU was established after the attempt to relocate Southwestern University from Georgetown, Texas, the first relocation effort by Polytechnic College president Hiram A. Boaz and spearheaded by Southwestern president Robert Stewart Hyer involved merging Southwestern with Polytechnic College. The post-merger university would retain the Southwestern name while occupying Polytechnics campus in Fort Worth, the merger never came to fruition, primarily because the Dallas Chamber of Commerce set up a committee to raise funds and entice Southwestern to relocate to Dallas. This proposal gained traction since Southwestern was operating a medical school in Dallas. Plans were drawn for the campuss first building, Memorial Hall, Southwesterns trustees rejected the relocation plan, prompting Hyers resignation and move to Dallas to establish Southern Methodist University. SMU retained close connections to Southwestern and Polytechnic, Southwestern president Hyer became SMUs first president and Hiram A. Boaz, a Southwestern graduate, resigned as president of Polytechnic to become SMUs second president. Polytechnic attempted to become a school of SMU before becoming a womens college. SMU acquired Southwesterns medical school in Dallas and operated it until 1915, Southwestern and SMU were athletic rivals until Southwestern became a small liberal arts college. The church decided to support the establishment of SMU and dramatically increase the size of Emory University at a new location in DeKalb County, at the 1914 meeting of the General Conference, SMU was designated the connectional institution for all Conferences west of the Mississippi River. Classes were planned to begin in 1913, but construction delays on the universitys first building prevented classes from starting until 1915. In the interim, the only functioning academic department at SMU was the college it had acquired from Southwestern University. SMU named its first building Dallas Hall in gratitude for the support of Dallas leaders and local citizens and it remains the universitys symbol and centerpiece. Designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge after the Rotunda at the University of Virginia, Dallas Hall opened its doors in 1915 and housed the university as well as a bank. It is registered in the National Register of Historic Places, SMUs nickname The Hilltop was inspired by Dallas Hall, which was built on a hill. The universitys first president, Robert Stewart Hyer, selected Harvard crimson, in 1927, Highland Park United Methodist Church, designed by architects Mark Lemmon and Roscoe DeWitt, was erected on campus

2.
Marching band
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A marching band is a group in which instrumental musicians perform for entertainment, and prepare for a competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instruments, woodwind instruments, percussion instruments, most marching bands wear some kind of uniform that includes the school or organizations colors, name or symbol. Most high school marching bands are accompanied by a colorguard, a group of performers, Marching bands are generally categorized by function, size, age, gender, instruments and by the style of show they perform. In addition to traditional parade performances, many marching bands also perform shows at special events like competitions. Increasingly, marching bands perform concerts that implement many songs, traditions. Band is a term for an instrumental group. The marching band originated with traveling musicians who performed together at festivals and it evolved and became more structured within the armies of early city-states, becoming the basis for the military band, from which the modern marching band emerged. As musicians became less important in directing the movement of troops on the battlefield and this intermediate stage led to the modern instrumentation and music for marching bands. Many military traditions survive in modern marching band, Bands that march in formation are often ordered to dress their ranks and cover down your file. They may be called to attention, and given such as about face. Uniforms of many marching bands still resemble military uniforms, in the United States, modern marching bands are most commonly associated with performing during American football games. The oldest American college marching band, the Notre Dame Marching Band, was founded in 1845 first performed at a game in 1887. Many American universities had bands before the twentieth century associated with military ROTC programs. Spotts had seen a flock of birds fly in a V formation, the first halftime show at an American football game was performed by the University of Illinois Marching Illini also in 1907 at a game against the University of Chicago. Another innovation that appeared at roughly the time as the field show. University fight songs are closely associated with a universitys band. Boston College claims the first fight song, For Boston, many more recognizable and popular fight songs are played by high schools across the country. During the 20th century, marching bands added pageantry elements, including baton twirlers, majorettes, dance lines and these bands are said to be corps-style bands

3.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie

4.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s

5.
Homecoming
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Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back former students and celebrating a schools existence. It is a tradition in high schools and colleges in the United States, Canada. Homecoming is a tradition in the United States. People, towns, high schools, and colleges come together, usually in late September or early October, to welcome back alumni and former residents. It is built around an event, such as a banquet and, most often. When celebrated by schools, the activities vary widely, a dance commonly follows the game or the day following the game. When attached to a game, Homecoming traditionally occurs on the teams return from the longest road trip of the season. The game itself, whether it be football or another sport, the game is supposed to be an easy win and thus weaker schools will sometimes play lower division schools. The tradition of Homecoming has its origin in alumni football games held at colleges and universities since the 19th century, Many schools including Baylor, Southwestern, Illinois, and Missouri have made claims that theyve held the first modern homecoming. The NCAA, Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy. and references from the American TV drama NCIS give the title to the University of Missouris 1911 football game during which alumni were encouraged to attend and it was the first annual homecoming centered on a parade and a football game. Along with the game, the celebration included a parade. The event was a success, with nearly 10,000 alumni coming home to part in the celebration and watch the Tigers. The Missouri annual homecoming, with its parade and spirit rally centered on a football game is the model that has gone on to take hold at colleges. At least two collegiate homecoming celebrations predate the University of Missouri football game homecoming event, Southwestern University, in Georgetown, TX and Baylor University, in Waco, TX. By multiple historical accounts, Southwestern held the first Homecoming on record on Wednesday, former students raised funds, provided homes, prepared and served a barbecue supper, and decorated the town buildings. Members of the senior class waited tables, northern Illinois University has one of the longest-celebrated homecoming traditions in the country. The alumni football game played on Oct.10,1903, baylors homecoming history dates back to November 1909 and included a parade, reunion parties and an afternoon football game, a tradition that continued and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2009. There was a gap between 1910 and 1915 when there was no homecoming event, however there has been continuity since 1915, the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign claims to have first held a homecoming event in 1910, celebrating the 100th anniversary in 2010

6.
Jazz
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Jazz is a music genre that originated amongst African Americans in New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in Blues and Ragtime. Since the 1920s jazz age, jazz has become recognized as a form of musical expression. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms, Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the Black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience, intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as one of Americas original art forms. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging musicians music which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed in the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments. In the early 1980s, a form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful. Other styles and genres abound in the 2000s, such as Latin, the question of the origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well documented. It is believed to be related to jasm, a term dating back to 1860 meaning pep. The use of the word in a context was documented as early as 1915 in the Chicago Daily Tribune. Its first documented use in a context in New Orleans was in a November 14,1916 Times-Picayune article about jas bands. In an interview with NPR, musician Eubie Blake offered his recollections of the slang connotations of the term, saying, When Broadway picked it up. That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, the American Dialect Society named it the Word of the Twentieth Century. Jazz has proved to be difficult to define, since it encompasses such a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years. Attempts have been made to define jazz from the perspective of other musical traditions, in the opinion of Robert Christgau, most of us would say that inventing meaning while letting loose is the essence and promise of jazz. As Duke Ellington, one of jazzs most famous figures, said, although jazz is considered highly difficult to define, at least in part because it contains so many varied subgenres, improvisation is consistently regarded as being one of its key elements

7.
Brass instrument
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A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the players lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones, literally meaning lip-vibrated instruments, there are several factors involved in producing different pitches on a brass instrument. The view of most scholars is that the brass instrument should be defined by the way the sound is made, as above. Thus one finds brass instruments made of wood, like the alphorn, the cornett, the serpent, as valved instruments are predominant among the brasses today, a more thorough discussion of their workings can be found below. The valves are usually piston valves, but can be rotary valves, slide brass instruments use a slide to change the length of tubing. The main instruments in this category are the family, though valve trombones are occasionally used. The trombone familys ancestor, the sackbut, and the folk instrument bazooka are also in the slide family, there are two other families that have, in general, become functionally obsolete for practical purposes. Instruments of both types, however, are used for period-instrument performances of Baroque or Classical pieces. In more modern compositions, they are used for their intonation or tone color. Natural brass instruments only play notes in the harmonic series. These include the bugle and older variants of the trumpet and horn, the trumpet was a natural brass instrument prior to about 1795, and the horn before about 1820. In the 18th century, makers developed interchangeable crooks of different lengths, natural instruments are still played for period performances and some ceremonial functions, and are occasionally found in more modern scores, such as those by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Keyed or Fingered brass instruments used holes along the body of the instrument and these included the cornett, serpent, ophicleide, keyed bugle and keyed trumpet. They are more difficult to play than valved instruments, Brass instruments may also be characterised by two generalizations about geometry of the bore, that is, the tubing between the mouthpiece and the flaring of the tubing into the bell. Those two generalizations are with regard to the degree of taper or conicity of the bore and the diameter of the bore with respect to its length, cylindrical bore brass instruments are generally perceived as having a brighter, more penetrating tone quality compared to conical bore brass instruments. The trumpet, baritone horn and all trombones are cylindrical bore, in particular, the slide design of the trombone necessitates this. Conical bore brass instruments are those in which tubing of constantly increasing diameter predominates, conical bore instruments are generally perceived as having a more mellow tone quality than the cylindrical bore brass instruments. The British brass band group of instruments fall into this category and this includes the flugelhorn, cornet, tenor horn, horn, euphonium and tuba

8.
Saxophone
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The saxophone is a family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet, the saxophone family was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1840. He patented the saxophone on June 28,1846, in two groups of seven instruments each, each series consisted of instruments of various sizes in alternating transposition. The series pitched in B♭ and E♭, designed for bands, have proved extremely popular. The saxophone is used in music, military bands, marching bands. The saxophone was developed in 1846 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker, flautist, born in Dinant and originally based in Brussels, he moved to Paris in 1842 to establish his musical instrument business. Prior to his work on the saxophone, he had several improvements to the bass clarinet by improving its keywork and acoustics. Sax was also a maker of the ophicleide, a large conical brass instrument in the bass register with keys similar to a woodwind instrument. His experience with two instruments allowed him to develop the skills and technologies needed to make the first saxophones. As an outgrowth of his work improving the bass clarinet, Sax began developing an instrument with the projection of a brass instrument and he wanted it to overblow at the octave, unlike the clarinet, which rises in pitch by a twelfth when overblown. An instrument that overblows at the octave has identical fingering for both registers, Sax created an instrument with a single-reed mouthpiece like a clarinet, conical brass body like an ophicleide, and some acoustic properties of both the horn and the clarinet. Having constructed saxophones in several sizes in the early 1840s, Sax applied for, and received, the patent encompassed 14 versions of the fundamental design, split into two categories of seven instruments each, and ranging from sopranino to contrabass. Although the instruments transposed at either F or C have been considered orchestral, the C soprano saxophone was the only instrument to sound at concert pitch. Saxs patent expired in 1866, thereafter, numerous saxophonists and instrument manufacturers implemented their own improvements to the design, the first substantial modification was by a French manufacturer who extended the bell slightly and added an extra key to extend the range downwards by one semitone to B♭. It is suspected that Sax himself may have attempted this modification and this extension is now commonplace in almost all modern designs, along with other minor changes such as added keys for alternate fingerings. Using alternate fingerings allows a player to play faster and more easily, a player may also use alternate fingerings to bend the pitch. Some of the alternate fingerings are good for trilling, scales, a substantial advancement in saxophone keywork was the development of a method by which the left thumb operates both tone holes with a single octave key, which is now universal on modern saxophones. This enables a chromatic scale to be played two octaves simply by playing the diatonic scale combined with alternately raising and lowering this one digit

9.
Vaudeville
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Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment. It was especially popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, a typical vaudeville performance is made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. A vaudeville performer is often referred to as a vaudevillian, Vaudeville developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary American burlesque. Called the heart of American show business, vaudeville was one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America for several decades, the origin of this term is obscure, but is often explained as being derived from the French expression voix de ville. A second speculation is that it comes from the songs on satire by poet Olivier Basselin. Some, however, preferred the term variety to what manager Tony Pastor called its sissy. Thus, vaudeville was marketed as variety well into the 20th century, with its first subtle appearances within the early 1860s, vaudeville was not initially a common form of entertainment. The form gradually evolved from the saloon and variety hall into its mature form throughout the 1870s and 1880s. This more gentle form was known as Polite Vaudeville, in the years before the American Civil War, entertainment existed on a different scale. Certainly, variety theatre existed before 1860 in Europe and elsewhere, in the US, as early as the first decades of the 19th century, theatregoers could enjoy a performance consisting of Shakespeare plays, acrobatics, singing, dancing, and comedy. As the years progressed, people seeking diversified amusement found a number of ways to be entertained. Vaudeville was characterized by traveling companies touring through cities and towns, a significant influence also came from Dutch minstrels and comedians. Vaudeville incorporated these various itinerant amusements into a stable, institutionalized form centered in Americas growing urban hubs, pastors experiment proved successful, and other managers soon followed suit. B. F. Keith took the step, starting in Boston. Later, E. F. Albee, adoptive grandfather of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee, circuits such as those managed by Keith-Albee provided vaudevilles greatest economic innovation and the principal source of its industrial strength. They enabled a chain of allied vaudeville houses that remedied the chaos of the booking system by contracting acts for regional and national tours. These could easily be lengthened from a few weeks to two years, Albee also gave national prominence to vaudevilles trumpeting polite entertainment, a commitment to entertainment equally inoffensive to men, women and children. Acts that violated this ethos were admonished and threatened with expulsion from the remaining performances or were canceled altogether

10.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south

11.
Drumline
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A drumline is a section of percussion instruments usually played as part of a musical marching ensemble. High school and college marching bands, drill and drum corps, drum and bugle corps, the battery drumline is a section that marches on the field as a group. The battery usually consists of drums, bass drums, tenor drums. In the past, marching timpani were common before the adoption of the front ensemble, as were marching keyboard instruments such as glockenspiels. A relatively small number of bands, mostly at the level, continue to field such traditional marching keyboard instruments, however. Marching steel pans are part of drumlines due to issues with volume. In other cases, marching units may place the pit in the back or behind the band because the band may be too small for them to station the pit in the front. Sometimes, the front ensemble may have a position on the field in order to create a desired visual effect. Marching snare drums have high-tension heads that manufacturers typically make out of Kevlar or PET film, in the past, snares were typically carried with slings. Due to the discomfort of this angle for the left hand, matched grip is used in the right hand and traditional grip in the left. The stick is held with the two fingers and the thumb above the stick and two below, most modern snare drums have rigid over-the-shoulder harnesses that hold the drum with the playing surface parallel to the ground, which affords the option of performing with matched grip. Percussionists call this grip matched grip because both of the hands are in the same position, there are, however, many groups that are returning to a slight tilt playing style in order to make using traditional grip more comfortable for the players. Parts are typically univide the center rhythm of the drumline, the snares are the center of tempo in the ensemble. The center snare player is responsible for maintaining the tempo, when rehearsing or performing, the center snare may tap off the ensemble, setting the tempo with a solo rhythm. A snare drum can weigh anywhere between 20 pounds and 40 pounds, depending on the model and size, marching tenor drums are single-headed tonal drums. Typically, they are referred to as if there are three drums, quads if there are four, and so on for quints, and sextets. Modern tenor configurations usually have four to six drums, but there can be as few as one or as many as seven, tenor players add pitch variety to the drumline with drums of different sizes. Tenor players use matched grip and generally play with mallets with plastic disc-shaped heads, though traditional drumsticks, tenor drummers typically play in unison

12.
Big band
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A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. Big Bands evolved with the times and continue to this day, a big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and contains saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. The terms jazz band, jazz ensemble, stage band, jazz orchestra and this does not, however, mean that each one of these names is technically correct for naming a big band specifically. The music is traditionally called charts, improvised solos may be played only when called for by the arranger. There are two periods in the history of popular bands. Beginning in the mid-1920s, big bands, then consisting of 10–25 pieces. At that time they played a form of jazz that involved very little improvisation, which included a string section with violins. A few bands also had violas and cellos, usually one or two along with them, the dance form of jazz was characterized by a sweet and romantic melody. Orchestras tended to stick to the melody as it was written and vocals would be sung, many of these artists changed styles or retired after the introduction of swing music. Although unashamedly commercial, these bands often featured front-rank jazz musicians - for example Paul Whiteman employed Bix Beiderbecke, there were also all-girl bands such as Helen Lewis and Her All-Girl Jazz Syncopators. Towards the end of the 1920s, a new form of Big Band emerged which was more authentically jazz and this form of music never gained the popularity of the sweet dance form of jazz. The few recordings made in form of jazz were labelled race records and were intended for a limited urban audience. Few white musicians were familiar with music, Johnny Mercer. The three major centres in this development were New York City, Chicago and Kansas City, some big ensembles, like the Joe King Oliver outfit played a kind of half arranged, half improvised jazz, often relying on head arrangements. Other great bands, like the one of Luis Russell became a vehicle for star instrumentalists, there the whole arrangement had to promote all the possibilities of the star, although they often contained very good musicians, like Henry Red Allen, J. C. Earl Hines became the star of Chicago with his Grand Terrace Cafe band, meanwhile, in Kansas City and across the Southwest, an earthier, bluesier style was developed by such bandleaders as Benny Moten and, later, by Jay McShann and Jesse Stone. Radio was a factor in gaining notice and fame for Benny Goodman. Soon, others challenged him, and the battles of the bands became a staple at theater performances featuring many groups on one bill

Paul Whiteman and his orchestra in 1921. Whiteman's principal arranger, Ferde Grofé, is seated at the piano to the right. Photo is from sheet music cover in the collection of Fredrik Tersmeden (Lund, Sweden).